Call for Calif. to withdraw from arrest program

The Associated Press

Some California congressional members are calling on Gov. Jerry Brown to suspend the state's participation in a Homeland Security program that requires fingerprints of arrestees to be shared with immigration agents.

Democratic Reps. Xavier Becerra, Lucille Roybal-Allard and Judy Chu, along with Los Angeles city council members Bernard Parks and Jan Perry, will hold a news conference Friday in Los Angeles to announce the release of a letter to Brown, Becerra's office said in a statement Thursday.

The letter asks the governor to suspend the state's participation in the Secure Communities program until questions about its effect on the reporting of crime by victims and witnesses in immigrant communities are effectively answered, the statement said.

The move follows this week's vote by the Los Angeles City Council to support state efforts to withdraw from the controversial program, which critics say erodes trust between immigrants and police.

Through Secure Communities, the FBI shares with the Homeland Security Department fingerprints that local and state law enforcement have sent to the FBI to get criminal histories. The Homeland Security Department checks the prints against its immigration records to identify people illegally in the country or who can be forced to leave the U.S.

Immigration officials say the goal is to ensure illegal immigrants who commit crimes are flagged and deported. Nationwide, about 26 percent of those deported under program have been convicted of major drug offenses or violent crimes.

Massachusetts is the latest state to opt out of the program, joining New York and Illinois. The California Assembly has voted to withdraw. A Senate vote is pending.